Do these loads look over pressured?

[clos9009]

went and did some load testing last night, and looking at the primers it seems to me that the loads are too hot. but not 100% on that. there was some slight heavy bolt lift on the 165 PSPCL loads but nothing excessive. sort of looked like there was some ejector marks on some of the brass I think????? the other 2 loads I tried were 44grs of varget for both the 168gr Amaxs and the 168gr SMK.

I used the same brass for all loads that was once fired FGMM from another bolt gun that I FLS and trimmed to length. The primer was federal 210 LRP

 

[Mudcat-NC]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

well, its hard to tell from just looking at primers. but first off, you got crappy brass to start with (I should know, I have shot the crap out of FC brass and it doesnt last that long...just tossed a batch I shot 4x out of a bolt guns..pockets gone, light loads too) so you are going to get lift issues even with sane loads cause the brass is soft. Primers are looking like that cause the rem, and others, bolts have oversized firing pin holes and that lets the primer material flow into there. But, unless you just need that little bit of the velocity (I would argue you dont), why not back off to where you are seeing no signs of pressure? Less powder means a little savings there, and then you get to use your brass more times, etc.

Accuracy is the goal, not speed.

 

[Sportin Wood]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

Whats up with the last two pics?? Some sort of tunnel...or mine

 

[MALLARD]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

ya is that a tunnel ?

your pic "15 of 36" or 5th pic down , the row above the the one with the case mouth facing us , or 2nd row from bottom , 4th the right is showing extractor marks , thats bad , you need to back off, sometimes some cases may be seriously overpressured and show no signs on the case of it , so , reading cases for pressure signs is somewhat flawed,whats your CC ?

 

[clos9009]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StanwoodSpartan</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Whats up with the last two pics?? Some sort of tunnel...or mine </div></div>

That is the range I am a member at. Under ground shooting tube. I have 24hr access to it and the pistol range.

 

[clos9009]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mudcat-NC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">but first off, you got crappy brass to start with</div></div>

There loads were used for sight in and barrel break-in. I have Win brass ready to go. would these same loads be ok in the Win brass??? these loads as far as power charges I got off of the Depot here. So I have looked at all the pages for the 308 reloading and came up with those charges. the 46grains of Varget I got off of the Campfire.

Maybe I will just back off everything to 43.5 of varget I really need to get a Chronograph. The tube is set up with light screens all I need to do is plug in the chrono how sweet is that.

And I am shooting a Rem 5R Milspec 24"bbl bone stock.

 

[clos9009]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MALLARD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">whats your CC ? </div></div>

what is CC?

 

[MALLARD]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

<span style="color: #FF0000">clos
There loads were used for sight in and barrel break-in. I have Win brass ready to go. would these same loads be ok in the Win brass???</span>
definatly no , you must re test

<span style="color: #FF0000"> these loads as far as power charges I got off of the Depot here. So I have looked at all the pages for the 308 reloading and came up with those charges. the 46grains of Varget I got off of the Campfire.</span>

my friend do not do that again, consult a published load manual , or several (modern not ancient) published load manuals

<span style="color: #FF0000">Maybe I will just back off everything to 43.5 of varget I really need to get a Chronograph. The tube is set up with light screens all I need to do is plug in the chrono how sweet is that.</span>

sounds like a plan ,back off more and try again , start at 40 grs or something and shoot 5 shot groups or more if your trying to establish and OBT/OCW ( assuming your looking for accuracy and not max pressure/velocity) , 5 shot groups are more conclusive then 3 shot groups ( just like 10 is more then 5)

CC is case capacity or the volumne powder will occupy in the case , find your CC in water , weight a case , fill it with water , weight it again and the difference is your CC in water , you can compare your CC to other peoples CC , if your CC is less then "normal" , your going to have higher pressures , if its more then normal , you will see less pressure , CC varies with different cases , so thats why you cant just take your win cases and use the same data from your fed cases

 

[clos9009]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

The Hodgdon Power site shows 46.0gr of varget for the 168SMK as a max load. the Sierra 5th edition shows a max load of 43.5. The 168 bullet loadings of 44grs of Varget did not have any hard bolt lift but the primers look funny to me I guess. like primer flow. My next time out I will be using Virgin Win brass. I FL sized the brass, and deburred the flash holes, should I trim them all too before the first firing?

 

[BBeyer]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

Looks more like the fireing pin hole in the bolt is too large and primer material is being squeezed into that space. NORMALLY in a real pressure situation your primers will be flattened quite a bit more that the pics. show yours.

 

[former naval person]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

I'm loading FGMM brass with wolf primers and 45 gr of Varget with the 168's and have no pressure problems. I don't seem to have the short case life referred to with the FGMM as long as I load for the same velocity/pressure that Federal loads. I agree with BBeyer.

 

[Queequeg]

Re: Do these loads look over pressured?

Frankly, I think your brass looks fine. There are a few with some swipe marks but I see no clear trend. As to the primers, I think the issue would be resolved by having your firing pin hole Bushed if it is a concern. Sticky bolt lift on a particular lot of loads is a sign you are too hot, or your cases weren't adequately resized. One or two out of a lot of 50 might mean you didn't stroke your press consistently when you resized the case in question. Let velocity tell the tale.

That said, working up your loads, while time consuming, is still the safest way to develop your loads. The Sierra and Hornady manuals are always going to be more conservative than the Hodgdon manual but all my loads, in my rifles, respond well to the latter.

Additionally, I have several hundred Federal cases, many of them over 7 times fired, to include several dozen chrome plated (GASP!) over 10 times fired! I full length resize all my .308 brass as I have 5 different rifles in that chambering. If the WLR primers seem sloppy, I use the GM210M or the BR2s which are slightly greater in diameter.

I have brass from all the major manufacturers: I have something of a problem walking away from perfectly usable 1X fired brass...If you want to toss your FC cases, I'll recycle them for you!

Take care!